


A Litpollo Love story

by So_completely_numb



Category: The Percy Jackson Universe - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: All Human AU, College AU, I don't want to put my babies through much pain, I just really love Litpollo, M/M, Some angst, fluff mostly, just a little bit
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-02-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:21:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27862974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/So_completely_numb/pseuds/So_completely_numb
Summary: College (All human) AULitpollo is a beautiful ship and I am more than sad it isn't canon.This is a mostly fluff fic, and will comprise of 15 parts, each pertaining to a different trope, as follows:1) College AU (Introduction mostly)2) Coffee shop (Project fic)3) Library (date??) fic4) Let me be weak, let me sleep5) Road trip6) Fake dating7) In vino veritas8) Bed sharing (motel)9) Baby fic (featuring Estelle of course)10) Sick fic11) Fever dream12) Mutual Pining13) Falling asleep, waking up in each other's arms14) Appreciating flaws15) Established relationshipYou can read these as one-shots if you like, but they'll probably make more sense read as one continuous story.
Relationships: Litpollo, Lityerses/Apollo
Comments: 33
Kudos: 16





	1. Chapter 1

Lit (Lityerses. Poor boy) is staring at Apollo, the tall, tan, lean but muscular, paragon of beauty with the most beautifully sculpted face _I’ve_ ever seen (And believe me I’ve seen plenty), who’s currently shooting hoops in the basketball court. Off to the side, giving him pointers he does not need, is the smart-ass, Annabeth Chase. All right! Maybe I’m being a little harsh, but I’m really only here to talk about Litpollo.

Oh look! Apollo’s attempting a backward jump shot. 

Whatever. I’m sure he succeeds. The boy just _cannot_ miss.

Let’s get back to Lit, shall we?

 _Of course._ OF COURSE the angsty gay boy, with absolutely no social skills, falls for the gorgeous jock with a reputation for dazzling smiles, and leaving behind a trail of broken hearts.

May they can both bond over having the two most ridiculous names on campus. 

If only I could tell Lit he looks ridiculous with his jaw hanging open like that. If only I could tell him that his being distracted by Apollo has put him in the path of that idiot Percy and his skateboard.  
Alas, I am only the narrator.

Percy crashes right into Lit, and they both tumble onto the ground like the pin-heads they are.

At least that caught the attention of the two blondes that caused this. They both jog over, Apollo letting out a short bark of laughter and Annabeth looking slightly concerned.

“Y’all okay?” the boy asks, standing over the two dark-haired dummies, shining like an angel and looking more picturesque than ever with the sun behind him.

“I- uh- Yeah”, Lit sputters. Of course he sputters. It’s quite understandable, honestly. At least he accepts the thinly veined, corded arm Apollo’s graciously reached out toward him.

“Percy! How many times have I told you to _please_ watch where you’re going?” Annabeth asks exasperatedly. Percy does have quite a hit list.

“How can I look at anything but you, when you make it a point to look as gorgeous as that”, he says cheesily, gesturing up at her from the ground.

That draws a reluctant grin out of the girl. 

“Oh shut up Perce!” she say, then turns to Lit, NOT graciously reaching an arm out to Percy.

“Sorry about that. My boyfriend’s a ditz”

“Yeah sorry”, Percy says standing up and grinning, “My girlfriend’s way to distracting for me not to be”.

I’m gonna throw up. Or at least I would, if I had a physical body.

“You are okay though, right?” Percy says to poor Lit, who’s been subjected to this disgusting gooeyness.

“Oh. Yeah yeah”, He says, now brushing gravel off his pants, “All good here”.

Annabeth mumbles something to Percy about getting late to class and they rush off. I really couldn’t care less.

Except.

This leaves Lit alone with Apollo.

Finally. They need to start talking. Like NOW. I can’t handle them throwing more furtive glances toward each other, and neither of the oblivious oglers picking up on any of it. IT’S BEEN TORTURE. (I should know. I’ve been tortured before. 

“Oh! But how, Great narrator?!” you ask, “If you have no body?” 

Well if you had any idea of the rules of etiquette, you’d know that that’s an incredibly rude question to ask. Therefore, we will be moving on)

Oh My God (not that I have one)! They’re talking! Now look what you’ve made me do. I’ve missed part of their conversation!

“Of course I like literature”, Lit says with a scoff, as if it’s obvious.

“All right all right”, Apollo relents, and then after a pause, “Can I walk you to class at least?”

“Oh” Is all the Lit the love-struck fool can say.

“Oh come on”, the golden boy say, grabbing Lit by the arm and hauling him in the direction of the west wing.

“Wait dumbass. I gotta get my books first!” he says pulling away from Apollo.

He runs a hand through his curls, and a blush creeps up Apollo’s slender neck. Of course, Lit doesn’t notice. It’s like they’re _trying_ not to see the tell-tale signs of fist love!

“Just wait here a second, and I’ll fetch them”, Lit says and dashes away without waiting for a response.

Apollo’s hands find their way into his pockets, as he schools his face into bearing a nonchalant expression. Oy.

There’s students milling about, gossiping and trading notes. It’s a fine summer morning. The wind is whistling through the big birch tree, and blowing through the hair of the two girls kissing under it. Oh look! There’s a lone grasshopper… 

Well this is boring. How do other narrators do it? Where on Earth is Lit?!

Ah finally. Here he comes, three large books in his arms. The collar of his shirt is wet, and his face looks considerably less splotchy. Well that explains why he took so long.

“Three books? For English lit?” Apollo asks, his arms completely devoid of books, or any other classroom material.

“I get bored”, Lit shrugs as if that explains everything.

So English lit must’ve been what they were discussing before. Unless they were exchanging famous quotes of love and desire from popular classics, which I highly doubt, that was a boring fist conversation.

Ah well. They can make up for it later.

Our journey through the green and into the classroom is entirely uneventful. I would’ve thought Apollo, being the confident social butterfly he is, would have at least struck up a conversation with Lit, but apparently _feelings_ get in the way of such things.

How tiresome.

“Settle down. Settle down”, the woman at the front of the class says, sharply rapping her knuckles against the desk. Her name escapes me…

Anyway, Lit and Apollo make their way to seats as far away from each other as they can manage, both looking slightly disappointed when the other doesn’t stop them. Dorks.

“Now as I mentioned last week, I will be assigning each of you a project partner. I expect you to put in equal effort and come up with creative and _suitably appropriate_ papers”, Ms. Teach says, picking up a list of names. No, that’s not her real name. I wish it was. It would’ve been suitably appropriate.

She rattles off some names. Someone complains. She patiently listens to their complaint and comes back with a refusal. The student angrily flops into his seat, waking up the peacefully snoring person beside him. They glare at him, then at the class and Ms. Rap-knuckles. No one pays them any mind.

Lit listens intently and Apollo pretends not to. There’s a bee merrily buzzing around the classroom. It bangs against a window, then bangs itself against the window again. Interesting.  
I think I need coffee. I can’t drink any but it sure does smell good…

“Apollo and Lityerses”.

Oh. Now this is a great turn of events!

“Seems fitting”, Ms. Good-at-student-pairing says, with a slight smirk.

Lit looks surprised and angry all at once, his face flushed. Apollo looks like he’s trying really hard not to care, but his mouth is threatening to betray him and reveal his, already quite clear, happiness.

The teacher continues to pair off students, as Lit stares furiously at his book, as if he’s trying to ignite the pages. Apollo looks at his nails, then at Lit, then back at his nails.

A half hour later the bell, blessedly, rings. Lit’s hurriedly making his way to the door.

But why?? He’s going to have to spend time with Apollo anyway!

Oh good, Apollo’s caught his arm.

“Hey we should talk about the project”, he says.

“What’s there to talk about?” Lit replies.

Um… is his crush’s presence causing his brain to malfunction?? I wouldn’t really be surprised if that were the case, consider that his crush is the magnificent Apollo.

“You know… Where we’re gonna do the project, what topic we’re going to pick, et cetera”, the blond says slowly, as if he’s worried about the same thing.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to worry about it. You go shoot hopes, or dazzle people, or whatever it is you do, and I’ll finish the project. I’m not great at working with people anyway. You’ll get your credit”.

Apollo looks high-key offended for a second, but then laughs.

“Is that all you think of me Lit?” he says, “That I’m just some dumb blond jock trope?”

“‘Mythological retellings’ is one of my favourite topics to read about, so that’s the one we’re choosing for our project”, Apollo continues decidedly.

“What? You don’t get to pick the topic by yourself”, Lit snaps at him.

“Why not? What’s wrong with it? Too challenging for you?” Apollo says, smirk gracing his perfect lips.

Everybody here who knows Lit knows he can’t help but rise to a challenge. Now the topic’s practically set in stone.

“Of course not.” Lit says, resentful but stubborn, “Fine then. When do we begin?”

Apollo smiles wide this time, and I can see the blush creeping up Lit’s neck.

“Meet me at the coffee shop just off campus. 3p.m. Right after class”.


	2. Too Sweet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S'a little shorter than the last one, but I tried.
> 
> Coffee shop Litpollo!

Lit’s standing in front of a small café (It’s called The Grind. I sure hope Apollo picked it on purpose), and trying not to looked pissed off that his partner’s nearly half an hour late.

He did push (pulled first, obviously) the door open and walk inside, almost making it to the counter, before turning and walking right back out for no discernable reason. I do wish I knew how his brain worked.

I mean, as the narrator, I _could_ choose to narrate the functions of his mind, but where’s the fun in that, really?

Lit makes a frustrated noise and shoves his phone back into his pocket, and stares into the distance for a second, before re-adjusting the strap of his bag. He hesitates for a little bit and then makes to leave.

This is not going how I want it to. The story of the indecisive Lityerses and flaky Apollo is not one I am excited to share.

Ah wait. Is that Apollo rounding the corner? And what an opportune moment he’s picked. Right when Lityerses is making his way toward it, so they can slam into each other. Very well executed. (If you’re imaging me actually pleased about any of this, you’re doing it wrong. Nothing these idiots do surprises me anymore).

So Lit’s steadier than I expected. Despite the stand-up blond barreling into him, it’s not him who flies into the wall. He just gasps loudly and stumbles, as Apollo groans.

“Oh thank heavens!” the blond exclaims, standing back up. 

Lit doesn’t say or do anything but glare back at him. And WHAT a glare it is too.

“Dude I’m sorry. Totally forgot I had a Math extra class today. Hope you didn’t have to wait too long”, Apollo says sheepishly. He looks… ashamed? Embarrassed? Genuinely sorry? The dude’s so smitten, I’d be grossed out if I didn’t ship these two.

“I’ve been here since 2:45, so yeah. I kinda _did_ have to wait too long”.

“Well I’ll make it up to you. Drinks on me?” he asks, hopefully.

Lit glares some more, but then stalks back toward The Grind. Apollo heaves a sigh of relief, and so do I.

He follows Lit inside, chewing slowly at his lip.

I do so love this cafe. The hushed ambience, the overpowering smell of coffee and cream, the pretty barista with a shock of electric blue hair. It's when I see people like her that I start to wish I had a physical body. But then, looking at whatever the hell Lit and Apollo are doing, I've decided romance is way too much work.

Lit walks right up to the counter, and smiles most graciously at the girl. Who knew Lit could be gracious? He turns on the charm, mutters some pleasantries, and orders one of the most expensive coffees on the menu, without so much as a glance at Apollo.

The blondie looks a little disconcerted. I suppose he isn’t used to Lit being not-flustered. That makes two of us. Angry Lit is really growing on me though, not gonna lie.

He thanks blue and walks off to find somewhere to sit, still not acknowledging Apollo. The latter is growing more rattled by the second, and honestly? I’m so here for it.

He quickly places an order, throws a characteristically dazzling, _fake_ smile, and rushes to follow Lit to the table he’s picked by the window. The brunet’s already got a book and a note pad out on the table, and is currently looking up something on his phone. 

Apparently, he wants to keep things as professional as possible. Imagine me scoffing.

“Um”, Apollo says. What an intelligent conversation starter. Truly.

Lit looks up, and raises an eyebrow, absolutely refusing to make things easy for Apollo.

“So…” Apollo stops and clears his throat. “So how do we begin?”

“In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve already begun”, Lit snaps, flicking a finger toward the books.

Apollo flushes pink, then tries again. “Okay… Well, what do you want me to do?”

“Oh so now I’m in charge?”

“Come on Lit. You know what I mean”, he pleads.

Lit only huffs in response.

“Okay I know I was late and that you had to wait here for me. I should have called or something. That was wrong of me, and I’m sorry”. Colour me shocked. He sounds so sincere.

“Fine. Jeez. Apology accepted or whatever”, Lit says, flicking his hand irritably. He rips off a page from the notepad, and pushes it toward Apollo. “Here. Make a list of all the books you want to reference in the project”.

The blond slowly smiles, just as the cute barista calls out their names.

“I’ll get those”, he says, and practically jumps out of his seat. Aww. So eager to please.

Lit bends his head toward his phone, but I see the smirk that lights up his face for just a second, before he forces himself to look angry again. I have a feeling Litpollo’s going to be just fine.

Apollo comes back with two glasses, one filled with a rich brown liquid and chocolate drizzled around the inside, piled high with cream, and the other with blue water, ice, and more ice.

“So you’re the kind of person that chooses to go to cafes and then buys anything _but_ the coffee. Good to know”.

“No, but I had to try and save my money somehow, after you ordered this monstrosity”, Apollo replies, placing the bigger glass in front of Lit, who’s now scribbling away in his notepad.

Lit just scoffs, and reaches out to take a sip of his drink.

“Pah!” he exclaims. I’m sure the coffee’s delicious.

“It’s so sweet ohmygod”, he groans. Apollo laughs, and it isn’t fake at all.

He hands Lit a tissue, opening his mouth to say something (undoubtedly, stupid), but stops when he sees another one of Lit’s amazing glares.

“Don’t.” the boy warns, as he buries his face in the paper. Apollo smirks, but wisely shuts the fuck up.

Lit finally looks up, and steels himself before taking another sip of the drink. “I’m not one to waste good coffee”, he explains with a shudder and he grimace. That’s… nice?

Apollo picks up his own drink, and brings it to his lips, a contemplating look on his face. Lit looks up at Apollo, as he tucks a stray lock of hair back under his bandana.

“What are you thinking?” he questions, softly. There’s a change in the atmosphere, and I can’t figure out whether that’s a good or bad thing. At least they’re not arguing or talking about stupid projects anymore.

“Oh just making a mental note not to ever get you anything too sweet”, Apollo replies casually.

Lit blushes and chokes on his coffee at that. Bit of an overreaction, methinks.

“You uh- You’re planning on getting me stuff, then?” he asks, raising an eyebrow, and trying to feign nonchalance.

Apollo shrugs, his mouth stretching into a wide smile, “Maybe. Would you like that?” he asks, a teasing note in his voice. I suspect he meant it as a serious question though. Oh goody!

“Ah sure”, Lit replies easily, apparently having gotten a grip on himself, “Free stuff is free stuff, even if from a douchebag like you”. I could _really_ get used to confident Lit!

Apollo grins and lets out a low laugh at that, and it’s like something’s cleared up in the air.

“Hey! I’m not that bad!”

“No. You’re not”, Lit agrees with a small smile. Then he suddenly sits up straighter, and reaches forward to tap the blank page in front of Apollo, “But you’ll be even less bad, if you actually helped and got some work done”.

“Would that be a good thing though? I was under the impression that you liked bad boys”, he replied, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Just shut up and give me the list Apollo”.

Apollo’s face cracks in a cocky grin, but he begins to write.

Finally. We’re getting somewhere.


	3. Dorks!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much just Litpollo banter

I’m not okay.  
Lit and Apollo haven’t seen each other much the past two days, and I’m getting bored!

Golden boy had gone over to Lit’s dorm room once, to loan him one of his favourite books. And Lit had spent all his free time reading it, claiming it was because they were going to be referencing it in their project. But all of us with any kind of sense know better.

And now we’re in this old, rundown public library that looks like it’s been here forever, but what do I know? It’s not even particularly quiet in here. The sounds of drilling from whatever construction work they seem to be doing upstairs, and the unashamed couple violently making out against a bookshelf, are _very_ distracting.

Apollo is staring at them, almost contemplatively, while Lit stoically ignores them gazing intently at his (well, Apollo’s) book. I’m not sure he’s reading.

“You bastard! How _dare_ you?!” he shrieks, causing Apollo to startle and jump. Gah! Lit’s plenty loud when he wants to be.

“Wh- what?” Goldie looks so confused, I’d be laughing if I too wasn’t just as lost.

“You killed him! How could you. Fuck” I’m gonna go ahead and assume this is about the book.

Apollo lets out a short laugh. “You are aware that we aren’t the same Apollo, right?”

“Fuck you. Fuck your horrid namesake. And fuck this book!” That’s a lot of swearing.

Lit makes an unintelligible noise and buries his face in his hands. Who knew he’d get so worked up over a book? 

“Surely you knew what was going to happen. It’s a pretty famous Greek myth”

“Of course I did! But Ughhghhnn- Damnit Apollo.” 

“You really should finish the book, you know? I think you’d like the ending”, Apollo soothes, smiling slightly.

“This better end well”, Lit replies, wagging a finger at Apollo, as he picks up the book and resumes reading.

Neither of the two seems to care that they aren’t actually getting any work done, which would be fine with me, except I don’t want to deal with the two dummies failing a class. That’s just unnecessary drama.

The couple is still making out. How much could you _possibly_ explore someone else’s mouth?? I think I’d like to find out…

Sometime later, I don’t really know how long; time isn’t real anyway, Lit slams the book shut with a bang, which is impressive as it is a paperback.

“Well! You’ve done it. You’ve broken my heart”, he says with a vacant shrug, then smiles slightly as he adds “So I guess you don’t have to flirt with me anymore, huh?”

Apollo, who looked pleased at him having finished the book, now looks taken aback. I too am taken aback because this means that Lit is more perceptive than I thought!

“That’s not why-”  
“Heyy I’m just kidding”, Lit cuts him off with a grin. Now _why_ would he do that? You humans are so tedious.

“Besides, the book was great, but we should actually get some work done”.

That’s disappointing, but not wrong. They were only given a week to complete the paper, out of which they’d already wasted three days first flirting, then ignoring each other. 

They place their books on the table. Well, Lit places his books on the table, sliding a new notebook toward Apollo, who I suppose he knew would have come unprepared. He was obviously right in his assumption. Oh wait! Apollo has a pen. Surprise surprise, it doesn’t work.

“Okay so I’m not opposed to referencing Madeline Miller’s books in our paper. They’re REALLY good. What others can we use?”

“Don’t you have any suggestions? Some books you read as a child?”

“Look I don’t know what kind of child you were, but the extent of little Lit’s literacy was Ms. Enid Blyton and all the repetitive nonsense she wrote”

Apollo wheezes into his hand at that. To be fair to him, that was the most humorous thing Lit’s said in a while.

“Aren’t those for girls though?”

“Shh don’t unnecessarily gender things”, Lit replied with an easy smile, “But yeah, they were my mom’s and she still had them for whatever reason. I found them, read one, and was hooked”

“Huh. Very cute” Apollo teased, grinning.

“Anyway!” Lit exclaimed, a blush making its way up his face, “I did read a lot _about_ mythology, you know, because of my name, but I haven’t really read any retellings. And it was you who chose this topic so. _Suggestions_ ”

“Maybe we should do one about Midas and the Golden touch”

“Oh shut up. Apollo skinning a satyr sounds more interesting, no?”

Apollo shuddered at that. “Always hated that myth. What about Hades and Persephone? There’s a LOT of retellings about them. We could pick our favorite.”

“Sounds cool. Let’s go with the one where she wasn’t kidnapped. I’ve always liked your uncle, and don’t think he’d do something like that”

“Can you not-!” Apollo says with a laugh.

Lit picks up his phone, then scribbles something into his notebook. He slides it across the table, to Apollo. I was hoping for a cute love letter, but it’s just a list of books. The blond chews on the pencil Lit gave him, and smiles a little as he ticks off some of the names.

“Have you even read these?”

“Nope! But you have”

“And you’re just going to trust whatever I say?”

“It’s a group project, Apollo. I highly doubt you’d sabotage the both of us”

Apollo smirks and jots down some more names, drawing tiny little suns next to some of them.

“We’ve only got a couple more days to complete this paper, but maybe read the ones I’ve marked, after? They’re really good and you’ll find them all here”, he says, gesturing vaguely at the dingy space around them.

Lit takes the book, his fingers not close enough to brush against Apollo’s, and skims it. “Alright. Show me where they are.”

This has nothing to do with the project! What the hell guys?

They stroll between the aisles, Apollo occasionally picking up, and dropping books into Lit’s arms. At one point, they both reach out for the same book and blush furiously. Apollo quickly picks it up and drops it onto the pile in Lit’s arms, turning away swiftly. The brunet stares after him, then follows.

Once Apollo looks over and figures that the pile is big enough, they head to the front desk to check them out. Lit also needs a new library card, so they’re there for a while.

“So what was the point of coming to the library exactly? It’s not like we got much work done.”

“It was supposed to be a nice, quiet place to work, but…”

“But you really didn’t think all the books would be a distraction? This definitely wasn’t your elaborate plan to get me to read your favourite books?”

“No no. Of course not”, Apollo said, glancing at Lit out the corner of his eye, “If you’d have read more books, maybe we’d have gotten more work done”

“I’m sorry I picked the wrong topic… oh wait!”

They both laughed and Apollo reached out to punch the other boy in the arm. His hand lingered on his shoulder for a bit, but I’m not sure Lit noticed.

“You’re going to be doing most of the brunt work, anyway, because I’m the one with all the information, so I don’t mind.”

“And you expect me to believe that that’s a coincidence and not the very reason you picked this topic in the first place. Right.”

Apollo simply smiles brightly, “Yepp!”

“Lazy son of a bitch”, Lit mutters under his breath.

“Hey don’t talk about Leto that way. How rude.”

“I was talking about Zeus, actually”

Apollo snorts, just as the librarian comes back with Lit’s card. They check out the cartload of books, then head back to campus together. I do wish it were hand in hand, but maybe we'll have that some other day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so so Sorry I took so long to update!  
> Gonna give y'all two fics this weekend, to try and make up for it <3


	4. Love, I must confess

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one's a little different from the rest!  
> We take a little trip into Lit's mind WHEEEE!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I promised at least two fics this week, so here ya go.  
> I tried, but I really don't have a clue what my sleep-addled brain has come up with. I hope I don't look at this tomorrow morning, and regret posting D':

Let me sleep, let me be weak:  
Using this term very VERY loosely. Lit dreams of Apollo, and can’t sleep much that night. Nothing too heavy.

Let’s take a brief dive into Lit’s mind shall we?

Lit drops the stack of books onto his bedside table, and goes off to freshen up. When he gets back, he’s wearing soft grey sweats, not that that matters. He immediately heads to the books, and begins to rifle through them, ultimately settling on one about Daphne and Apollo.

He had been quite surprised when his Apollo had picked it, since they had both been avoiding topics about either of their namesakes. He hadn’t thought too much about it then, but now, in the quiet of his dorm room, he wondered if maybe Apollo had picked the book on purpose.

The myth of Daphne and Apollo was popularly known for being one about unrequited love, and Lit couldn’t help but wonder if Apollo was trying to send him a message by asking him to read it. Then he blushed really hard at himself and shook his head. There was no way the other boy had THAT big of a crush on him.

Sure, they’d been flirting, but then again, Apollo flirted with everybody. The way he smiled at him, or looked at him with that funny look in his eyes, or the way that his hand had lingered on his shoulder just a little longer than it should have, meant absolutely nothing. Right?

Lit moved to the bed, and positioned himself comfortably against the wall. He opened the book, and read for about five minutes, before closing it again and staring into the distance.  
He just couldn’t stop thinking about Apollo. It hadn’t been this bad before, but now that they’d been assigned this damned project together, it’d gotten worse. 

He’d developed a small crush on the guy the first time he’d seen him. But then again, who wouldn’t? Apollo was beautiful. But then the blond bastard had decided to be _nice_ as well and help him figure his way around campus, and the crush had… grown. 

Lit had freaked out when he heard Ms. Meyers call out their names. He hadn’t known how he would handle it, but… Apollo was actually quite fun to be around. He was easy to talk to and never boring. They even worked well together, which should have been a good thing, but somehow just made things worse.

The two days Lit had spent trying to read Apollo’s copy of The Song of Achilles, had mostly been used to try and figure out what parts of the book Apollo might have loved. As if that would get him closer to really understanding the workings of his crush’s mind. Lit hadn’t felt that pathetic in a long time.

And now here he was, trying to read yet another one of Apollo’s books, still unable to get his dazzling smile out of his head. Gah! Maybe he should just go to sleep. It wasn’t like he was going to get any work done anyway.

He placed the book carefully atop the table, and settled into bed. He closed his eyes and hummed, waiting for sleep to consume him. But it refused to come. Instead, he was reminded of the day he’d just had. 

He remembered the silly banter, the talk of books. He remembered telling Apollo about his obsession with Enid Blyton, and cringed hard. He’d never told anyone about that. _What_ on earth had Apollo done to him? He remembered the sunlight spilling in through the window, and making Apollo look like the God he was named for. He remembered the damned couple making out at the rickety bookshelf, and briefly wishing it was them instead.

He dozed off a little later, having given in to such pleasant thoughts, but was soon woken up by his roommate entering the room. Leo Valdez was always jittery and loud, but even more so when he was drunk. He crashed into his desk, giggled something about Calypso’s soft hair, and fell onto the bed with his shoes still on. Exactly 13 seconds later, he was snoring. Lit contemplated taking them off and maybe giving him a blanket, but then decided against it because his own bed was too comfortable to leave.

Now that he was awake, he found it even harder to fall back asleep. He groaned tiredly and picked up his phone, only to see an email from Apollo. His heart sped up in his chest for, according to Lit, no discernable reason. To his immediate and enormous disappointment, it was simply about their project. Apollo had sent a _long_ list of books, and a short summary about what parts of each of them to reference in the paper.

Skimming through that list, Lit belatedly and confusedly saw that most of them had something to do with unrequited love. This obviously cast him into more of a frenzy, thinking about why Apollo could possibly have picked such topics.

He couldn’t stop thinking about the implications, even as he set out to finally begin writing their paper. He hoped to the high heavens it didn’t show in his writing. 

Lit wanted nothing more than to just talk to Apollo about all of this, but knew that when morning came he wouldn’t have to guts to. He even considered sending the other boy a risky text, because his sleep-deprived mind seemed to think it was a good idea.

He, however, fell asleep before he could get to his phone, right there beside the sheaf of papers, dreaming of books, a boy, and a confession.


	5. On the road is the perfect place to PINE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apollo knew he looked good that day, with his olive green polo shirt and ray bans, but _damn_ he wasn’t expecting that reaction. He felt quite pleased with himself as he got into the car.
> 
> Thought it only fair to delve into Apollo's mind this time.

It was the morning after Apollo had sent Lit that email. The email that had revealed to him that his subconscious was trying to sabotage him. The damned email in which Apollo had given Lit summaries of a dozen Greek retellings, most of them chock full of piney love stories. Apollo felt like he could kick himself.

He truly hoped Lit wouldn’t read too much into them… Was Lit the kind of guy that noticed symbolism?

He told himself it didn’t matter anyway. There wasn’t any reason he should see Lit again. They could complete the rest of the project from the safety of their dorm rooms, thank you very much. Even so, he realized, the thought of not seeing Lit again _hurt_. He wanted to see him again. He wanted to joke and flirt with him, to push his buttons, and have him get snarky and mad. He _wanted _to tuck that stray curl of hair back under his bandana and cup his face.__

__Wait what?_ _

__Apollo buried his face in his hands and groaned. He’d have to figure out a way to keep talking to Lit after this project was completed._ _

__The next day was mostly spent emailing Lit, reading his drafts, and editing. Maybe a little daydreaming also. And the day after that, they’d submitted their project. It was good, but apart from feeling relief at its completion, Apollo didn’t care much for it. His heart was hammering most irritatingly as he looked for Lit, after class._ _

__He was just a little bit surprised that the boy had been waiting for him._ _

__“Hallelujah we’re finally done”, Lit said grinning._ _

__Apollo rubbed the back of his neck. Was Lit happy to be done with him?_ _

__“Um yeah”, he replied with a hesitant smile, “So I wanted to ask you for a favor…”_ _

__Lit nodded. “Oh?”_ _

__“My sister’s having a party this weekend and-”_ _

__“Wait! Please tell me she isn’t named Artemis”, Lit interrupted with a laugh._ _

__“Uh… she _is_ my twin, so”_ _

__Lit snorted. “Dear God. Okay, continue”._ _

__“Right. So my sister’s having a party this weekend, and I was wondering if you could come along”._ _

__“Oh”, Lit’s still smiling, but a little confusedly this time, “Why?” he cocked his head to the side, and Apollo wanted to kiss his neck or _something _.___ _

____“I love my sister. I do. But I really do need some company if I’m gonna have to deal with her ass”. This wasn’t a lie. Artemis loved to tease Apollo about him never bringing his dates over, despite being single herself. Except in her case, it was a choice and not cowardice, another fact she liked to tease him with. “She lives with some friends of hers, a couple hours away. We could make a road trip of it”_ _ _ _

____Lit looked hesitant, and Apollo’s heart dropped a little, but then he nodded firmly, “Yeah! Sounds like fun. When do we leave?”_ _ _ _

____Well that went well. Lit was even starting to look excited._ _ _ _

____“Tomorrow?”_ _ _ _

____….._ _ _ _

____Apollo found Lit waiting beside his car, a light backpack slung from his shoulder, and a book under his arm. Upon coming closer, he realized it was one he’d asked him to loan from the library. The thought that Lit was seriously reading his favourite books made him feel both warm and scared at the same time._ _ _ _

____“Hey! You ready?”_ _ _ _

____Lit turned to reply, and Apollo saw his eyes widen a little when he saw him._ _ _ _

____“Ready as I’ll ever be”, he said a little shakily._ _ _ _

____Apollo knew he looked good that day, with his olive green polo shirt and ray bans, but _damn_ he wasn’t expecting that reaction. He felt quite pleased with himself as he got into the car._ _ _ _

____Lit tossed his bag into the backseat and climbed in, securely locking the seat belt in place. Then they were off. Apollo saw Lit sigh back against the seat as they made their way out campus._ _ _ _

____On the way to Artemis’, they drove past a big field that Lit seemed to really like looking at, and a then over a highway that he did not care for at all. Lit was flitting through the pages of his book, chewing on a pencil. Occasionally, he’d very lightly underline something in the book. Apollo wondered why, as he wouldn’t get to keep the book anyway._ _ _ _

____“So you also desecrate public property”._ _ _ _

____“Hmph. At least it’s an upgrade to the pasta sauce I found two chapters ago”, Lit replied shutting the book._ _ _ _

____Since the road was long, straight, and utterly deserted, Apollo looked over at him. He had intended to ask him about the book but was caught off guard by how beautiful he looked. Apollo was fond of poetry and felt the immediate urge to write some about Lit. He wanted to write, or maybe sing, about the delicate hair curling at the nape of his neck, the faint white tracery of old scars, the brown skin seeming to almost glow in the afternoon sunlight, his long, dark lashes hanging over the pools of dark coffee that were his eyes. Instead, blood rushing to his cheeks, he turned away._ _ _ _

____Lit reached out to pick up his phone and change the music._ _ _ _

____“Whoa what’s wrong with Lorde?” asked Apollo, now slightly offended._ _ _ _

____“Nothing at all”, Lit replied with a shrug, “I just fidget with stuff when I’m bored”._ _ _ _

____The car was filled with beat of Daydreaming by MISSIO, and Apollo found he didn’t mind the change in music._ _ _ _

____“Maybe we should play 20 questions”, Apollo said jokingly._ _ _ _

____Lit sat up. “Okay”._ _ _ _

____“Wait I was just kidding”_ _ _ _

____“Nono, let’s do it. But please don’t ask stupid questions. Some asked me to read ‘Serpent and Dove’ a couple weeks ago, and I did because I hate myself. It had the most uninteresting sequence of 20 questions I’ve ever read, I don’t want that for us.”_ _ _ _

____For _us?? _There was an _us _?_____ _ _ _

________“Cool. I’ll go first. Why do you annotate books that you aren’t going to keep anyway?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Lit let out a little sigh, and said, “It’s like leaving behind a small piece of myself. Of course, the next person to pick up the book won’t know it’s me, but that’s not the point”. He breathed in as if this wasn’t an easy thing to share, and continued, “I don’t tell people much about myself. I don’t make a lot of friends, and I’m definitely not an open book. I think this is way for me to just let people see me, but… anonymously. I know that probably doesn’t make much sense, but it’s what works for me”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________Apollo sat stunned, but tried as hard as he could not to show it. For someone that didn’t share much of himself, Lit had shared a lot with Apollo, and he didn’t quite know how to feel about it. Maybe he was grateful. Maybe he was terrified of Lit’s trust in him. The last thing he wanted to do was let Lit down._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Well that was definitely interesting. Your turn.” Apollo thinks he did well enough at playing it cool._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Um”. Lit fidgets around, shifting his legs and squeezing his own fingers. Gods above! It’s making Apollo nervous. “So the books you asked me to rent out…” Apollo’s heart starts to speed up. Surely Lit hadn’t noticed! “Was there any… particular theme to them, or?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________“Theme? Well duh. Mythological retellings”, Apollo managed, with a laugh that sounded fake to his own ears._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

________An embarrassed blush crept up Lit’s cheeks, and Apollo _almost _regretted lying to him. “I know… but, anything… else?”, he asked, waving his hand about like it could explain what he wanted to say more eloquently than words could.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

__________Apollo decided to play dumb. It wasn’t like he’d been lying anyway. He really _hadn’t _meant for all the books to be so damn _piney_.___ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Not that I can think of…”, he said, feigning a look of confusion, “Why?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“Never mind”, Lit said, turning away to hide flushed cheeks, “Your turn”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Apollo cleared his throat. He hadn’t meant to ask this next question so early on. Maybe he was doing it because he didn’t like lying to Lit. Maybe he was doing it so Lit would be distracted from his embarrassment. Maybe he wasn’t doing this for Lit’s benefit at all. Maybe he just had to get this off his chest._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“So this is a slightly serious question. If, you know… hypothetically speaking, I were to tell you that you had to…” If he weren’t belted to a car seat right now, he’d be squirming, “I may or may not have told Artemis that we’re dating!” he finally blurted out._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Lit turned to stare at him._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________“I mean, of course we aren’t, but would you mind faking it for the weekend?”_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Lit just looked like he was in pain._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

____________Then his face broke out in a cheeky smile, and he said, “Let’s do it. And let’s make it convincing”._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


	6. Tensions rising

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your favourite narrator's finally back!  
> And there's angst YAYY!
> 
> OC's- Claire and Arson.

Heyy!! So I’m back. Did you miss me? I sure hope you did.

Apollo and Lit are very, very close to Artemis’ place now. Apollo looks splotchy and nervous. I don’t like it. Clashes too much with his outfit. Lit, on the other hand looks cool and calm. That’s weird. Probably a façade.

Apollo finally makes a turn, and pulls into a driveway in this _really_ nice neighborhood. I’d consider living here, if I could… live, you know? He parks the car and just sits there, like an idiot. I’m sure Lit notices because he punches Apollo lightly in the arm, and steps out. Apollo follows soon after, and Lit moves to the backseat to get his bag, but the former flaps at his arms in impatience. Boi does he not look the epitome of grace today.

Lit shoots him a look, and shoulders his bag anyway.

They both make their way to the front door of the pretty, baby blue house. It looks quaint, and cozy, and not really someplace I’d imagine Apollo’s cool sister Artemis living, but maybe she’s into the whole cottagecore thing. I wouldn’t know. I’m supposed to keep focused on Apollo and Lit.

Speaking of, Apollo is trying to look collected and nonchalant as he knocks on the door, but it’s (incredibly) clear that he isn’t. Lit inches just a little bit closer, trying to offer his support, but of course Apollo doesn’t notice. At least not at first. Then Lit’s hand brushes against his own, and, I kid you not, his eyes spark. His breath hitches in his chest, and he goes completely still. Simp.

The door bangs open to reveal a silver woman. No seriously, she’s silvery all over. Her hair and eyebrows have been dyed a most mesmerizing silvery-white, her skin glows in places (silver highlighter methinks), and all the delicate silver jewelry over the lacy, dark green tank top and gray shorts makes her look ethereal and fairylike. DAMN she is _really_ taking the Artemis thing seriously.

“Big brother!”

“We’re twins, and you’re unoriginal”, Apollo says resignedly. Like he’s had this exact conversation before. He probably has. Artemis simply smiles.

“Aw don’t be like that!”

She turns toward Lit, who’s been standing there awkwardly, and offers him her hand. Palm facing down, snowy white fingers curled, like she expects him to kiss it.

Lit looks like he’s visibly restraining himself from turning to Apollo in bewilderment.

“Aren’t you going to take my hand?” Artemis asks, with a fake pout.

Lit reaches out and takes it, completely unsure of what to do next. He just holds it like it’s an unwanted bug someone’s placed in his hand.

“Must all your dates be so rude, Apollo?” Artemis questions, with a huff.

“Must you always act like a twat that doesn’t know what century it is, Artemis?” he replies, turning to Lit. “She’s just playing with you”.

Artemis laughs, and walks away. It’s a normal laugh, no tinkling wind chimes, or tumbling rivers. I don’t even know if that’s humanly possible. Stephanie must have been on something.

“Something tells me it’s best if I play along”, Lit says, following Apollo through the door.

“Definitely. Oh, and leave your shoes here.”

Two of the girls Artemis lives with are insanely pretty. (But then, all humans look insanely pretty to me… _oh to have a physical form_ ). And they look like polar opposites. The bigger one is wearing a flowy summer dress that perfectly complements her wheatish skin, her pink and brown hair in a neatly curled high pony, winged eyeliner _on point_. The other one has her orange-red hair hanging about her face, some of it still fixed in the messiest messy bun I’ve ever seen. She stays seated on the sofa, in her dull grey sweats, and simply turns to wave at the boys when they walk in, eyes still on the tv.

“Hi! I’m Arson”, says they pink-haired one, “And that’s Claire. She’s normally the active one, but it’s shark week so she’ll just lie there like that all day, useless”. She (they?) swiftly catches they pillow that’s been chucked at them, and grins. “Oh and Thalia’ll be out in a sec”.

“Your name’s Arson?” Lit asks, politely trying not to sound shocked or confused.

“Heh yeah. Of all the non-binary names someone like _me_ could have picked, right?” They say, with a short laugh. “It was a close call between this, and Twig.”

“Her pronouns are she and they, btw”, Apollo says walking up from where he’d been talking to his sister, to envelop Arson in a hug, “Hey Ari!”

“Ah jeez. The hugging still isn’t over?” A raven haired girl says, walking into the now slightly crowded living room. “Well I’m Thalia. Do no touch me”. That last part was spit at Apollo. Her tone is menacing, but her little smirk shows otherwise.

“Hey Thalia”, Apollo says, reaching over to pat the red-head, Claire, on the shoulder, and ruffle her already ruffled hair. Please somebody comb it already!

“This is Lit, Apollo’s newest fling”, Artemis says, gesturing to the boy who looks like he can’t decide whether he wants to live here, or run away. He gives the room a shy smile. (Aww)

“Great! Now that we all know each other,” Get out of Pridelands? Sorry sorry. Just couldn’t miss out the opportunity to quote Lion King: Simba’s Pride. Artemis simply continues on with something about lunch and rotisserie chicken.

It’s been quite an uneventful couple hours, but oh, how could that possibly last? In a room full of people, half with names with mythological roots, and the one named after a crime? There’s bound to be _some_ drama. No, calm down, there isn’t going to be a fire. Unless it’s Lit’s heart flaming for Apollo, or vice versa. ANYWAY I’m going way off script.

“So Lit, how’d you guys meet?” Claire asks around a mouthful of veggies, feet nestled comfortably on Arson’s lap. I’m starting to think they might be more than friends, but what do I know?

“Oh we had to do a project together. Obviously, we’d seen each other around before then, but yeah… that’s the first time we really interacted”, Lit answered, awkwardly trailing off at end, as if he thought he’d said to much. Seriously Lit? That was barely anything.

“And how long ago was that?” Arson asked.

“Uh-”

“About a month ago”, Apollo supplied, lacing his fingers through Lit’s, their hands clearly visible from the sofa they were seated on.

Lit’s adam’s apple bobbed, and he shifted slightly in his seat, but managed to keep calm, even lifting their conjoined hands into his lap.

“Huh. How long have you guys been together, then?” Thalia asked, staring to look interested.

“A couple weeks.” Apollo’s voice was calm, at startling odds with the red of his face.

“Oh?” Artemis said finally, her eyes moving from their linked hands, to Apollo’s face. “You move awfully fast brother.”

“Well, we both wanted it”, Lit tried to cut in. The sudden tension between the twins is so thick, even oblivious Lit notices.

Artemis ignores him and continues, “Don’t you remember what happened last time you moved this quickly?”

“Artemis, please”, Apollo says, starting to sound irritated, “You wanted me to stop fucking around, and I did. You seem to have a problem with everything I do.”

“Oh is that why you’re dating him? Because of me?” Oh shit… we’re getting awfully close to the truth now, huh?

“No. No, of course not”, Apollo lies quietly. Lit manages to discreetly untangle their fingers and pull away, looking a little hurt. “I like Lit”. So not all lies then? If only Lit knew that, then he’d stop looking like a kicked puppy.

“Just make sure he isn’t another Daphne”, Artemis says, a challenging look in her eyes.

“That was a mistake and you know it! When are you going to stop bringing it up?” Apollo spits angrily, before he gets up and walks out the front door.

Lit sits there in shock for a second, before deciding that an angry Apollo was easier to deal with that a room full of upset and curious people, and follows behind him. Damnit! I wanted to stay behind and listen to the gossip. Would you mind terribly if I did that?

Yea, I suppose you would.

Lit is leaning against the wall of the house, hands in his pockets, while Apollo leans over the porch railing, and stares at his car.

“So who’s Daphne?”

Apollo sighs in defeat, before saying, “My ex. One of my only two exes”. Then he turns around before almost hastily adding, “Exes being people I’ve actually dated, that is. Not just people I’ve slept with”.

“Of course. Of course you still care about your reputation as a fuckboy”, Lit says, sounding disappointed more than anything else. Look, I’m a sucker for drama, but what the hell is this?! I don’t like this.

“What? No”. Apollo sounds... scared? “No I’m just trying to be as clear as possible.”

Lit doesn’t say anything.

“Besides, why are you even mad? It’s not like we’re actually dating”.

“No.” Lit whispers, “We’re not”.

“Hey”, Apollo pleads, “I can’t handle you being mad at me too, Lit. I’m sorry you got dragged into this shit”.

Lit waves the apology away. “Why is Artemis so mad about Daphne?” If I were even a little less intuitive, I would’ve missed the hopeful tone of that question.

“Oh. Um- Daphne was one of Artemis’ best friends. That’s how we got close in the first place. Sometime last year, we started seeing each other, and eventually became official. We’d moved really quickly, and honestly didn’t have much in common except Artemis” And divinely good looks, if Apollo’s many flings are anything to go by. “But everything went great, nonetheless. Better than great, even. I started to think I loved her. Until it didn’t. Around the three month mark, things started to go sour. We’d disagree about pretty much everything, and we’d fight and argue all the time. Then it started to get monotonous and boring and we were just going through the motions. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I broke up with her, and…” That’s the one place he hesitates. “Left. I just left for college, and Artemis had to deal with Daphne, who apparently took it hard. I didn’t speak to her at all until just a few months ago.

We’re okay now, by the way. She says that I’m a better friend that boyfriend, and I can’t say I disagree. Lucky for you that we’re just faking it, right?” I notice the slight hitch in his voice, but Lit apparently doesn’t. He lets out a dry chuckle. “Artemis, on the other hand, is still obviously pissed. I don’t blame her. She said that Daphne only dated me at all because I _seduced_ her. At first, I thought that was ridiculous, but if all the hoes on campus are anything to go by, it seems that was entirely possible”, he finishes bitterly.

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or exasperated by your unwavering level of self-confidence”, Lit says tiredly, after a brief pause. “Well that wasn’t as bad as I expected”.

“Yea, Artemis has been known to overreact”.

“I think her reaction was warranted”. Lit himself looks surprised at having defended Artemis.

“Maybe it was”, Apollo amends, eager to get back on Lit’s good side, I suppose. “You’re not still mad, are you?”

“I’m not mad at you, no” comes the curt reply, suggesting that he is still mad at something. This whole situation, probably. This trip was supposed to be romantic for God’s sake!

“Good, because we have a little party to attend this evening”.

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first Litpollo fanfic... and I kinda wanted to try something a little out of my comfort zone for the narrator.
> 
> Comments are VERY much appreciated!
> 
> Thanks for reading <33


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